Skyla S. Hearn: January 2013

"The Way Forward is with a Broken Heart"1 It is with a heavy heart and sullen emotions that I write this blog.

In the previous blog, I excitedly boasted about one of my public programs, the Chicago Metro History Fair (CMHF). I am glad to report that the first day of CMHF coaching at the Carter G. Woodson Regional Library, Saturday, January 26th went exceptionally well. I was able to assist eleven elementary students with their projects in a four hour window from 1-5pm. The original alloted time per Saturday is from 1-4 but we were enthralled in resources and ran over! I felt fulfilled that I helped at least ten of the eleven students locate the sources they needed to submit to the their teachers in the upcoming week. The eleventh student worried me a bit. I wasn't too sure about whether she gained all the 'expertise' I offered as she was less than enthused to be doing homework on a Saturday---a sentiment I'm sure I'd share if I were her age! As a human being, it gives me satisfaction to help others out when and where I can. I genuinely care about people, especially children/the youth, which is why my heart is so heavy as it relates to state of social affairs and crime thats taking place here in Chicago.



Hadiya Pendleton, 3rd from the left, performed
at the 2013 Presidential Inauguration. She was
a 15yr old honor roll student at King College Prep
from the South Side of Chicago.



The Carter G. Woodson Regional Library provides services for the entire community. Our patrons range in age from one to one hundred and one so you can imagine the flow of human traffic that fills this facility on a daily basis. I interact with quite a few patrons when entering and exiting the building in addition to archival reference in the Harsh Research Center. In the evenings on my way home, I often run into one of friend's children and we exchange pleasantries. This week they shared a story with me that was later reiterated from my daughter when I picked her up from school, which was less than pleasant. It was extremely painful and heartbreaking. She informed me, as they had, about a peer who had been shot outside her highschool. The young woman's name was Hadiya Pendleton. As a community, we must continue to rally

together to attempt to keep our children, our future legacies, as safe as possible.

In a previous blog, I mentioned that the "job", or vocation, of being an Archivist is not limited to just the work that needs to be done from within the archives. As my experiences and skills continue to grow, as a part of this fellowship and beyond, the relationships that I'm building with the community including the staff, students, patrons and donors are strenghtened as we draw on our shared experiences of navigating through society and making the best of our lives on a day to day basis. This month, I have been heavily focused on two major groups of our society, the youth and the elderly. Twice this month, on January 10th and January 29th I made visits to the former home of Rev. Addie and Rev. Claude Wyatt, current home of Mr. and Mrs. Claude "DeDe" Wyatt, III to retrieve photographs for the upcoming "Faith in the Struggle: Rev.Addie Wyatt's Fight for Labor, Civil Rights and Women's Rights" photo exhibit. Earlier this month, I made several phone calls to the sisterof Rev. Addie Wyatt, Mrs. McKay, because I was concerned about her health after learning that she'd been ill. Mr. and Mrs. McKay have been valuable members of the Wyatt Photo Id Committee. The Harsh Archival Processing Project Team is tirelessly working on the completion of the curation for the exhibit. The exhibit is scheduled to open on March 9, 2013.

Earlier this month, I presented to the Patricia Liddell Researchers (PLR) on the 1850 Seventh Census of the United States. Slave Schedules and the1860 Eigth Census of the United States. Slave Schedules. The room was filled with middle-aged and elderly community members and scholars interested in locating relatives and conducting other genealogical research. They were a kind and patient audience. Part of my presentation was given without a microphone (due to technical difficulties) which, in a sense, helped with my connection with the audience. I moved away from the podium and closer to the audience so the presentation became more like a conversation where I was able to assist my elders in their learning. An action I have gratiously been on the receiving end of the majority of my life. So grateful for the experience of the role reversals.

Thanks to Ms. Beverly Cook, one of my host repository supervisors, I was able to attend a free webinar hosted by the Illinois Collections Preservation Network entitled "Funding Opportunities for Collections Preservation" presented byu Pat Miller and Dr. Bonnie Styles of the Illinios State Museum. I gained information on funding sources for libraries and museums in Illinois and from the US government.

My hopes are that in our next meeting, spirits will be higher and hearts will be lighter. Take care.
 

1. The Way Forward is with a Broken Heart is the title of a book written by Alice Walker. Walker describes the book as "These are the stories that came to me to be told after the close of a magical marriage to an extraordinary man that ended in a less-than-magical divorce. I found myself unmoored, unmated, ungrounded in a way that challenged everything I'd ever thought about human relationships. Situated squarely in that terrifying paradise called freedom, precipitously out on so many emotional limbs, it was as if I had been born; and in fact I was being reborn as the woman I was to become."